Category

Finding Joy

Dec 19
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Worthwhile Resolutions by Joyce Rupp

By | Communication, Finding Joy, Holidays, Marriage Enrichment, New Year's Resolutions | No Comments

  It takes effort to direct thoughts to things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, worthy of praise. ~ Amy Kuebelbeck   No matter how life is currently unfolding, I always look forward to greeting a new year. Its open space appears inviting, and the fresh prospects instill hope. Each January presents an opportunity to reestablish and reclaim what promises to keep me balanced and growing. In late December, a television newscaster disparaged New Year’s resolutions as worthless, probably because studies show that almost 80 percent of them will be broken or discarded before the month is over. In spite of this fact, I believe resolutions to be valuable for my personal growth. Through the years I’ve found an intentional focus on some aspect of my attitude and behavior to be of substantial value. One simple intention can make a big difference in how I live. I prefer…

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Sep 28
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Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: A Missionary’s Heart

By | Family Life, Finding Joy, Holidays | No Comments

January 2, 1873–September 30, 1897 Patronage: Missionaries, Against Illness Memorial: October 1 THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX’S STORY Born in 1873 at Alençon in Normandy, France, Françoise-Marie Thérèse Martin was the fifth daughter of Blessed Louis Martin and Blessed Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin. With the untimely death of her mother, Thérèse’s family relocated to Lisieux, France, where Thérèse was cured from a serious illness at the age of eight. Thérèse experienced a vision of the Christ Child when she was not quite fourteen. So great was her desire to join the Carmelites that, upon being declined because of her age, she took her personal request to Pope Leo XIII during a pilgrimage to Rome. Thérèse’s entry into Carmel was marked by her development of what would become known as the “Little Way,” her personal charism of total devotion to God by completing even the most mundane and ordinary tasks with the greatest of…

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Jul 25
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Prayer for a Simple Kind of Love by Haley Stewart

By | Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Meaning of Marriage, Romance, Spirituality | No Comments

I have trouble sleeping if my husband, Daniel, is out of town. The familiar sound of his breathing as he sleeps beside me is what slows my own breath and beckons me into sleep each night. After fifteen years of marriage, if he is far away it feels as if part of me is missing. “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” This is how scripture describes the intimacy of marriage (Gn 2:23). A parent and a child are bound together by blood, but a husband and wife take on this kind of intimacy by choice, reflecting the relationship between God and the Church, his chosen Bride. Through sacramental grace, our spouse—although forever in some ways a mystery to all but God—is made intimately known to us and we to him. The differences between Daniel and me remain a source of wonder, occasional frustration, and frequent bemusement. “You…

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Apr 26
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Bending So We Don’t Break

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment | No Comments

My parents have long had a wonderful saying: “Never leave one good party in search of another.” Of course, the adage applied to real parties. My mom and dad were notorious for being the last to leave any social gathering. They were the first on the dance floor and the last to wave goodbye, usually after having stayed around to help clean up. But I learned early on that their wisdom also applied to most of the important things in life: education, career, and especially marriage. When I need an example of a strong marriage, I simply look to my own parents, who have been going strong for fifty years and counting. I won’t say that they never fought, but I will say that they were partners through and through. At the core of their relationship is a mutual covenant to help one another get to heaven and to experience…

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Apr 26
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PRAYERS FOR FOSTERING UNITY

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Uncategorized | No Comments

Releasing Unhealthy Attachment with Parents Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I have not fully left my parents to be joined to my spouse. I now renounce any unhealthy attachment I have with either of my parents. I release them to you, Father, and I ask you to give them the grace to release me. I declare that my primary allegiance is to you and to my spouse. I pray this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Releasing Unhealthy Attachment with Children Heavenly Father, I recognize that I have formed unhealthy attachments with my children, and that this is unhealthy for their growth and development and for my relationship with my spouse. I ask you for the grace to release those unhealthy attachments now, and to form a healthy bond with my spouse, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Renouncing Unholy…

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Mar 29
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The Call to Change

By | Communication, Finding Joy, Spirituality | No Comments

Today we celebrate Christ’s triumphal entrance into the holy city of Jerusalem. The crowds laid their cloaks before him and received him as a king and the hopeful fulfillment of Israel’s long wait: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord” (Lk 19:38). Immediately upon his arrival in Jerusalem, Christ proceeded to upend the comfortable rhythm of religious practice and leadership. From the cleansing of the Temple to the famous “woe to you, scribes and Pharisees” orations, it quickly became clear that Christ brought zeal for restoring right order and casting out all corruption and hypocrisy. Those who were open to Christ—which included the need to acknowledge the faults of their ways—were able to accompany him in the mighty work that had emblazoned his longing heart through all his earthly ministry. They would be the ones who would also share its fruits. Those whose hearts had…

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Mar 29
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Falling in Love by Paul George

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Romance | No Comments

What is more difficult, falling in love or staying in love? I’ve had this question posed to me a few times. The soul awakens when one falls in love. My soul awoke when I fell in love with my wife. Falling in love was easy. Sure, I had some fears and doubts, but as soon as I let go of those, I fell hard. My soul awoke too when I gave my life to Jesus. I sur- rendered. I had questions, doubts, and fears, but once I let go of those, my heart fell in love and broke open. My out- look changed overnight, but changes in my behavior and attitudes took time. I’m still on the journey of healing, growth, and conversion. Love requires more of us than falling. It’s the day-to-day process of loving that develops holy grit within us. We all know the feeling when the romance…

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Jan 26
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Find Love in Small Deeds

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Romance | No Comments

In addition to being kind to ourselves, we also need to open up to the gentle presence of others in our lives. There are so many people who, during the day, care for us through little words of affirmation or other small ways. But we take them all for granted and miss the power of their wonderful support. It may take the form of family and friends saying a kind word. They may call just to let us know they are thinking of us. Or, they may do a small chore for us so we don’t have to do it ourselves. Often these are unrecognized graces. We fail to recognize them because we are used to them, maybe too used to them. Then we miss them when they are gone. Being grateful for the wonderful people in our lives now would certainly change our behavior toward them. As in the…

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Jan 26
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Healing for Everyone

By | Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment | No Comments

As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. —Luke 4:40 Throughout the gospels, people arrive with a variety of sufferings for Jesus to heal. No type of ailment or hurt is too little, too large, or too strange for him to tend. He encounters everyone personally—touching them, placing his hands upon them, flesh to flesh, and coming close to the ill, soul to soul. And he does so for each of them. He treats them not as impersonal objects but rather as people who matter, people not only in need of his attentiveness but also worthy of it. Did Jesus fear catching a disease? Did he flinch when he saw festering wounds or smelled the stench of the unbathed? Did he feel repelled by…

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Nov 28
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Critical Issues

By | Communication, Family Life, Finances, Finding Joy, Sexual Intimacy and NFP | No Comments

By the end of Margie’s life, Margie and I still had many unresolved conflicts between us, though we grew tremendously over the years in our ability to honor and respect each other despite these many differences. Some of our conflicts originated in personality differences, some in gender differences, and others from different values and lifestyle choices. Underlying all these were our “deeper hidden issues,” which Gottman identifies as the most critical in marriage. These deeper hidden issues included our respective areas of selfishness, sins, and wounds. These underlying issues fueled the surface conflicts and made them far more intense and hurtful. Most couples have difficulty accepting, honoring, and negotiating differences when it comes to these “deeper hidden issues.” Our fallen nature has a basic core of self-centeredness that hinders our capacity to reconcile our differences and become more unified. We also bring into marriage a whole lifetime of accumulated vices…

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